Connecting our community’s most burdened individuals to
their courageous ancestors in an unforgettable way!
Our Process
CHARTS
In collaboration with homeless shelters and domestic violence nonprofits across the nation, we help individuals facing overwhelming hardships fill out family pedigree charts.
RESEARCH
Our comprehensive team of genealogists and volunteers build family trees and research historical documents to discover courageous ancestors’ stories.
DNA KITS
DNA kits are ordered to find more connections to ancestors and also help solve any family mysteries.
FINDINGS
We present our findings to participants in colorful books full of photographs, maps, pedigree charts, letters, vital records, newspaper clippings, and other historical documents.
LETTERS
If sufficient documentation is available, we summarize hero ancestors’ captivating stories in first-person letters addressed to their descendants and read by professional actors. The results are remarkable and inspiring!
What are current nonprofits missing and how do ancestors' stories bridge the gap?
The answer can be found in the way that courageous family stories inspire self-identity and individual purpose.
One of our favorite ancestor heroes is Holocaust survivor and psychotherapist, Dr. Viktor Frankl, who witnessed, “There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life,” (Man’s Search for Meaning, 1946).
Dr. Frankl observed that having a purpose in one's life is not only life-sustaining in a physical sense, but also in the daily grind of life. At Olive Branch Connections, we believe that when the ground seems to crumble beneath us, our identity becomes our foundation for sure footing and our purpose is the driving force that keeps us walking forward.
A Special Message to the Women and Children in Our Program
We believe you have the freedom and the responsibility to author your own life’s narrative. If you are currently doubting your ability to take control of your own destiny, let us help you start where most great stories do: at the beginning, with the ones who courageously paved the way before you.
Many of your ancestors had you in mind when they chose to persevere despite unprecedented challenges. Some fought for freedom from slavery or oppression; others left behind a legacy of faith, hard work, or economic stability. Whatever they contributed, their purpose was the same: to make a better future for their descendants.
As you learn their stories and experiment with ways to turn your own “tragedies into triumphs” as Dr. Frankl did, we hope you will find your own unique identity and purpose.
Then, if you exercise that purpose when the ground seems to crumble beneath you, even if that means to simply place one foot in front of the other, one day you may be surprised to find that your story becomes a powerful beacon of peace and resilience for your descendants.
Partners
